Invasion
by ridtom
Summary: A world of Heroes and Villains come under attack from enemies beyond the stars! With the world's greatest hero missing, there's no telling how this invasion will end.
1. Invasion 11

**Invasion 1.1**

 _We have arrived, Lord Boros._

Boros stirred himself from his deep meditation. His vast throne room greeted his awakening, empty as per his command many years ago. The soldiers of _Dark Matter_ knew that Boros extended no mercy to those who defied his orders.

He could feel the tendril of Geryunganshoop's consciousness within his own as he rose from his grandiose throne. In his trek across the universe, Boros had smited many telepathic species that had dared breach his mind, and it was a sign of privilege that he had allowed his elite soldier to do so.

The leader of the Dark Matter Thieves strode languidly down the throne steps, feeling his body already loosening in preparation for battle, even under his restrictive armor. A warrior of his caliber never concerned themselves with such things for too long.

"Twenty years," he spoke as he strode forth, "I was beginning to doubt the prophecy myself. What have we learned about this unfortunate planet?"

 _We've arrived on a primitive planet Lord Boros. Barely a Class 3 from our general scans! Currently, we are orbiting above a notable city in atmosphere._

"Oh? Notable in what way?"

 _General scans picked this city as one of the few with notable Class 5 technology and our cameras have picked up a stand-alone structure encased within a protective layer a few miles offshore._

Ah. Boros understood immediately. In such a primitive culture, it would make sense to dedicate the greatest advancements in technology to protecting important locations rather than the world as a whole. He'd destroyed enough of them to understand that it also meant beings of great importance to that world congregated in such places as well.

A bit odd about the disparity between being Class 3 and having access to Class 5 capabilities, but the universe was a varied place, and evolution was unpredictable.

It had, after all, created the ultimate being in the universe.

"Keep us centered above the heart of the city Geryunganshoop. I'll observe it for myself."

 _Yes, Lord Boros._

It would take him a few minutes to navigate the various hallways and transports within the _Dark Drifter_ to reach the Observation Room. Along the way he'd come across his various scouts and soldiers, all kneeling and groveling as he passed by, waiting till he was out of sight and ear-shot before resuming their business.

He cared not for them. Compared to thoughts of the upcoming battle, the thrill of new opponents, of achieving his goal and purpose in life... they were beneath him. Nearly nonexistent. Expendable in every sense of the word.

Twenty years. Drifting through empty space, pillaging the occasional colony or mining vessel. Conquering and subsuming civilizations, obliterating those he deemed _boring_.

This was it. The culmination of his journey, his legacy, of the very history of the universe itself. His armor strained to seal his pure power and he had to briefly constrain himself to prevent it's malfunction. He'd have his engineers update it at a proper time later.

The Observation Room was ran by a sole occupant. Geryunganshoop had a looming physique, a terror to behold visually and mentally, but it said much about the creature that seemed to shrink in on itself within the presence of it's Lord and Master.

Geryunganshoop bowed it's head, "Lord Boros. It seems that the planet's inhabitants have finally taken note of our presence."

Boros declined to respond, staring at the projected image. The elite soldier knew better than to be offended by the lack of response and was grateful to merely be blessed with his presence.

His soldier was right, the city was _primitive_. Pitiful excuses for skyscrapers dotted certain parts of the land, with the rest being a hodge-podge of smaller buildings and districts. Interestingly enough, it seemed to have been purposely situated between a mountain and the sea. A decent idea for deterrents against land and sea invasions.

Not so much from the sky.

He could see the lone structure out past the bay now, taking in how the glistening field around it distorted and refracted light, making it difficult to parse the structure to the finest detail. Still, scanners worked in tandem with the camera, pointing out possible weapon placements and movements within the city.

Activity, but no action yet. He'd have to fix that.

Not taking his eye off the screen, he spoke, "Have our gunners launch the initial salvo. Standard procedure. Hmm, Melzargard will be cleanup detail."

Geryunganshoop bowed even lower, "As you wish Lord Boros."

With that done, Boros turned on his heels and strode off, back towards the throne room. This was the hardest part, he had to admit. As much as he yearned for battle, his pride could not allow himself to be so low as to scrounge around a backwater planet for entertainment.

Any possible challenger would have to worth his time. He had legions of soldiers from past conquests, experienced with decades of combat. His elite guard, Geryunganshoop, Melzargard, and Groribas could subjugate armies and served as the last line of defense within the ship should it come to it.

Only once his opponent had survived the _Dark_ _Drifter_ , battled through his legions, and defeated his Elite... only _then_ would he allow himself to bask in mortal combat once more.

He felt the ship thrum softly as he reached his throne, the guns loading ammunition for the first strike. He stood unbothered, masking all emotion, and waited.

Waited and hoped.


	2. Invasion 12

**Invasion 1.2**

The streets were a flood of chaos and mayhem, a cacophony of distress emanating from the hundreds of thousands rushing to nearby shelters, almost obscuring the non-stop Endbringer sirens that echoed throughout the city.

Battery leapt across rooftops and the time spent soaring through the air while her charge was active was welcome relief from reality. She moved too fast for sound to properly process for her and the crowds below moved too slow for the thriving and panic to disturb her thoughts.

Unfortunately her thoughts, much like a decent part of the city, were consumed by the mechanical titan hovering above them all.

Its shadow drenched the city in darkness, the already dreary early morning made worse by an eclipse of unnatural origin. Battery had expected it to be loud, dulling out mechanical roars like the ships in Star Wars would. Instead it was almost impossibly silent, only a faint hum occasionally permeating from its no doubt great depths.

In a way, that was almost worse.

 _Nothing that big should be so fucking quiet.  
_  
The charge ended as her feet hit the rooftop of an apartment complex, her jog now that of an athletic woman in her early twenties. All around her, the world sprung back into life, enveloping her in its wake. She could feel her power buildup within her core and she couldn't wait to once more isolate herself. For now she kept her steady jog, waiting for either her charge or Assault to catch up with her.

Two miles ahead, the Rig was a beacon in the darkness. If its forcefield coating wasn't eye-catching enough, spotlights had been activated at some point, aiming up towards the Ship and barely brightening even a fraction of it's underbelly. She couldn't tell from her position, but she bet money that it's weapons system were aiming in the same general location.

It had been almost twenty minutes since the Ship appeared above Brockton Bay. She and Assault had been patrolling farther out into the city than what would usually be scheduled, doing their best to assure some of the more effected areas of Bakuda's mad spree that the Heroes hadn't given up the good fight for them. When the Ship had appeared they had worked partly with the Police to evacuate the residents to the closest shelters or to move towards the mountains.

Hard work, even with super-speed, especially when people would be slow responding from sheer disbelief. She couldn't really complain, since she and Assault had been awestruck for several minutes when it appeared.

It had been ten minutes when the sirens began and they had gotten the phone alerts. Watchdog and several independent Thinkers had chimed in and though she wasn't given the specifics, from what Armsmaster and the Director told her, the Protectorate, PRT, and Military were scrambling to set themselves up for conflict. The duo were ordered a prompt return to the base, likely along with their teammates and the Wards.

This scared her in ways different than an Endbringer fight could. She had participated in those before, mostly as relief or search and rescue, but seeing those monsters tear down the best and brightest was traumatizing nonetheless. What she felt now was fear of the unknown. How could she prepare for a fight when the scale had been so utterly warped?

She wondered what Cauldron was doing at this moment. It wasn't often she tried or wanted to think about them, but the mysterious Doctor and her "employees" - not that Battery had seen any - seemed like the kind who would somehow know something about what was going on. Or perhaps that was just her still shocked mind leaping to conclusions.

She heard him before Assault landed on her rooftop, his power softening his landing while also shunting him into a blur. He embraced her in surprisingly gentle hug for his speed before once more leaping into the air, Battery in tow.

Normally, she was the faster of the two, but he could maintain his enhanced speed. They had long since worked out a system so that both would cover the other's particular weaknesses. Battery would wait for her charge to finish as they continued to traverse the city towards the Rig, taking comfort in his touch at the same time.

Unlike with her power, she had no protection from the wind chill and friction of moving while being his passenger. She was only barely able to hear him speak of the wind.

"Fucking aliens."

Battery glanced his way. Assault's smile seemed to have a tinge of mania to it that she didn't like. She had become too used to him being in control of himself.

"We don't know if they're aliens." She said, straining to have her voice heard. "I've read reports of some countries trying to outfit their armies with Tinker Technology." The words rang hollow even to her ears.

Assault glanced up and shook his head, "Babe, I don't think _any_ country could build that thing. Tinkers be damned."

Again that manic smile. Battery brought a hand up, careful as he made for another leap, and gently brought it through his hair. He sighed, closing his eyes for the briefest of moments before landing at a stop.

"Thanks puppy."

She gave him a soft punch to the shoulder and a smile. Her core was charged and within a second she was off, bursting through the air at super speeds.

The Rig was only a few blocks away. She was close enough that she could see that they had extended the forcefield into the bridge often used by Armsmaster or vehicle strike teams, ferrying a small caravan of armored vehicles to the base. Likely PRT officers and City officials relocating from their offices to the apparent safety off-shore.

Choppers dotted the sky, moving like molasses compared to her senses, likely doing what they could to support the evacuation. Maybe a few news choppers hoping to get good shots at the Ship. Stupid, but people were anything but rational during times like these.

Another rooftop, one less block to go before they could go to ground and use the bridge.

Battery blinked and when she opened her eyes, everything was a hue of purple. As if God himself had flicked a light-switch, the entire city was new enveloped by purple light for as far as she could see.

She had been worried by the Ship's relative quietness before. Now having froze from the shock of the amount light, she knew that she should have been outright afraid.

Battery looked up and knew she was going to die.

They fell fast, far, _far_ too fast. Even with her power, the building sized objects drifted down from the sky like a speeding car on long stretch of road. If she had a full charge- no, she dismissed the thought. There was no way she could escape this.

 _6 - 5 seconds left.  
_  
She turned to her lover. Ethan was in mid stride along the same roof as her, nearly frozen in the act of covering his eyes from the intensity of the light. Battery felt her eyes tear up.

She went to him and held him tightly. He thrummed as his own power took her presence into account and she was careful not to give too much pressure with her strength.

One of the objects was close, couldn't have been more than a hundred feet up and away, and in a fleeting glance Battery recognized it as a ludicrously sized bullet.

 _You'd think they'd have lasers._ She closed her eyes and pulled herself closer to Ethan. _I love you.  
_  
Her power had run out. The world engulfed her in a deafening rush of wind and chaos as it was destroyed all around her.


	3. Invasion 13

**Invasion 1.3**

Melzargard flew and basked in the smoking ruins of the city beneath him.

It was honestly a thing of beauty and in his many opinions, never got old seeing it repeated. How many civilizations had it seen wiped from the surface of planets and asteroid colonies? How often had he seen the transformation of a thriving society into a smoldering wasteland?

Not enough. Not _nearly_ enough.

He knew he could not stay there forever though. As thorough as the _Dark Drifter's_ cannons were, very rarely did they prevent annoying insects from crawling forth from the brink of annihilation. Like the Claufors. Filthy Claufors. They had to double back and glass their planet _again_ due to how resiliently they kept popping back up. That had been when they had four lieutenants.

Lord Boros had made sure there were only three after that mistake.

 _Below. Deep below. I can_ _ **smell**_ _them.  
_  
He found himself agreeing with himself. The city had been thoroughly demolished, save for the other half of the mountainside, but there were lifeforms buried deep within. He would have his fill of slaughter here and with his master's permission, begin the cleansing process with the remaining denizens behind the mountain.

He dove from the sky, the very air crying out as the speed of sound was shattered like thin glass. Within seconds he stood atop what had once been the city's largest library, though he did not know this and would not have cared. Nothing remained of the neighborhood except for craters and rubble, much of which continued to burn as the primitive lifeforms gas and electricity sources were left exposed.

 _The smell is strong._

Very strong. Hiding below like vermin.

Rip and Tear for the Lord!

He would and do so with a smile on his face. Multiple smiles if he felt like it. The day was young and perhaps it wouldn't hurt to let himself roam about. That was for later though.

Now was time to exterminate the remaining pests.

His body shifted, morphed, _changed_. Multiple limbs appeared and struck forth at the rubble beneath him, moving just as fast as his flight had been, obliterating any obstacle in his path. There were mangled remains were mixed and twisted with plaster and concrete, and he discarded them just as easily. Within half a minute he had cleared the surrounding area of debris, a flat surface around him as he came face to face with what appeared to be a vault door.

It had dented and bulged slightly in some areas, and it's left side bore a heavy crack at the top of the corner, but he had to admit it was surprisingly well intact after the assault.

He would have to change that.

His limbs changed again, scythes capable of slicing through every material he had come across in the universe. With his monstrous speed, Melzargard tore into the metal slab, feeling his blades digging in and parting metal like soft dough.

Five sets of ears picked up cries of surprise and, hopefully, horror as he went to work. _Soon._

The door was thicker than anticipated, but three more slices breached through to the other side and the barrier failed, only a few pieces dangling by their hinges.

Melzargard stood for a moment, letting the light shine down into the entrance, illuminating a small staircase. He didn't need the light really, his enhanced senses could easily make out the hundreds of lifeforms staring up at him.

No. He wanted _them_ to see _him_. To recognize the servant of Death had appeared for them and nothing could stop it.

A sound began to emanate from the lifeforms as they saw and understood. They had begun to back away, but some had remained frozen in place. Be it courage, stupidity, or fear, it did not matter.

A manic grin barring five layers broke out on his face.

"Time for some _pest control._ "

A chattering sound caught Melzargard's attention, just as Geryuganshoop spoke up, _"The lifeforms are attacking. What is your status?"_

"P-Please no," the male lifeform pleaded within his grasp, "I have a-a-a family!"

 _Why do they always say that?  
_  
A louder noise this time, sustained and then a crash, and Melzargard realized what was happening. Plenty of Class 3 worlds used similar weapons such as those. The alien lieutenant glanced back at the remaining lifeforms within the complex. What had been once a couple hundred had now been diminished to maybe a bit under two dozen. All of them whimpered, cowered, and soiled themselves in some fashion.

He had honestly lost track of time while having fun. It couldn't have been for more than a few minutes, but it wouldn't due to reveal that to Geryuganshoop and potentially Lord Boros.

Melzargard strutted up the staircase as he replied, _Removing pests. They have some hidden cells beneath the terrain. Likely more remaining._

"Really? How unexpected. Nevertheless, finish cleaning up the remaining riff-raff as soon as possible."

What of the landing parties?

"Too dangerous for now. The lifeforms weapons have killed those who attempted to fly down and assist you. Once we're finished with them, you'll be joined shortly."

Too dangerous?

There was no reply and he could no longer feel the tendril of connection within his minds. Annoyed at the lack of information, he strode on upwards and to the surface. He would finish his slaughter shortly, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

With the chattering sound not having stopped once, it was easy to pinpoint the source of the attack. The tower that stood within the ocean had unleashed an onslaught of firepower upon the _Dark Drifter_ , a hole in it's energy bubble providing the means for hundreds of bullets and missiles to soar into the metal behemoth.

It was a laughable attempt. The impacts barely scorched a single percentage of what made up the ship.

Still, he could see why the landing party would be hindered. It seemed that those primitive weapons had some impressive accuracy and that energy field made him wonder if they perhaps had other ways of attacking.

Ah, the ship was moving now. He watched as the ship leisurely drifted towards the tower and smiled. Once it had properly angled itself, he doubted even that bubble of energy could handle the full might of the _Dark Drifter_.

"P-Please let me go."

Melzargard blinked. _Right, almost forgot.  
_  
He smiled at the broken male, still within his large claws. Time to get back to wo-

 _Fear!_

Panic!

Enemy!

"Let'em go you ugly fucker."

Melzargard dropped the lifeform and spun around, it's hearts racing, all five eyes scouring the landscape for the threat to it's life. It had been so long since it had felt anything like this.

A small form floated a dozen feet away. Female, a lifeform of this planet, with blood oozing down the side of it's face. It's outfit seemed partially torn and burned in places, but aside from the head-wound, was startlingly untouched.

"Ooooh," Melzargard studied the new arrival with wary eyes, "So there are some of you pests that almost appear interesting. Did you hide beneath the earth like the rest of them?"

Her eyes flickered towards the entrance to the vault and back to him. He felt the strange pressure on him increase ever so slightly.

"What did you do to them?"

Melzargard tilted his head, pretending to ponder the question.

Then he smiled.

"What did you d-"

He struck. The same speed that allowed him to fly faster than sound, allowed him to shred nearly two feet of steel in seconds, that same power flew forth from an outstretched limb and collided with the female's chest.

Just like that and she was gone, only dust and displaced air as she vanished around some lingering building remains. Simple.

Odd though, that he had felt some resistance from the hit. Still, it had been decades since something survived a single hit of his, and it wouldn't surprise him if the female had been a low level psychic who got lucky from the initial volley.

The mewling behind him once again caught his attention.

"I should thank you for constantly reminding me." He towered over the crippled male, smiling as wide as ever, "I think I'll kill you last. As a token of gratitude you see."

He stepped past him, uncaring as his feet crushed the man's shins, and ignoring his cries of pain. He had promised to kill him last, but that didn't give him a pain free pass after all. A few seconds of this grew boring and he set off to finish his extermination. There was work to be done and the male wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

His foot had just lifted off the ground when he was hit by a solid wall of _death_. There was no comparing the shock from before; his minds were an utter blank as a cold hand gripped his sensibilities and blocked rational thought.

For a crucial moment he was frozen, paralyzed by the alien feeling of complete terror, and that was all the blonde and white streak needed to take hold of the raised foot. Melzargard found himself looking up towards the ship and pulled forth at nearly a hundred miles an hour.

Glacial speed for him, but his minds were trying to make sense of what had happened when they ceremoniously slammed half-way through the one remaining wall of a lingerie store, and skidded to halt thirty feet away.

His attacker remained on the offensive, straddling the back of his neck and laying down haymaker after haymaker upon his skull. The impacts carried a surprising amount of power behind them, leaving deep impressions in both bone and the dirt beneath his head.

But as relentless as the attacks were, they were utterly futile. He felt no pain, was beyond such primitive things, and his regeneration fixed any damage faster than she could throw a punch. Whatever mental attack the psychic had done was beginning to weaken or he had gotten used to the pressure, for his mind began to process what was and had happened.

The female raised a fist, only for a limb to burst from the skull, engulfing her torso and right arm. There was a short struggle before Melzargard simply tossed her aside, the force enough to send her bouncing off of the ground and spinning wildly into the air.

He rose.

The female steadied herself in the air, panting for breath. She was bloodier than before, a deep cut along the shoulder and upper left arm.

Not bloody enough for his tastes. _No. Not bloody enough at all.  
_  
Melzargard broke out into a grin once more, and felt his skull begin to slowly split. "I'll tear off your limbs one by one, small child. Crush your bones into dust, pulp your organs, and let your lungs fill with blood."

"Then... I shall make you feel _true pain._ "


	4. Invasion 14

**Invasion 1.4**

Victoria knew immediately that she had bitten off more than she could chew.

She was a local celebrity in what had once been Brockton Bay, a combination of her aura and natural social skills giving her the admiration of the people, and fear from the criminal. She was strong, she flew faster than some speeding cars, and she had studied parahumans almost religiously. Dean had been her man on the inside on that front, helping her study as they dated.

Dean. She'd been worried sick about him in the moments leading up to... whatever had happened to her city. Sure it was likely he was at the Rig with the other heroes, but if he wasn't...

Well, she might meet him _there_ soon.

Glory Girl ducked and flew low to the floor to her left, keeping angled debris between her and her opponent. Almost instantly as she moved from one area to another, the rubble acting as her makeshift shields were annihilated. Long, muscular, tentacles ravished the landscape as she made her escape.

"Yes, run little fly, run in fear of the swatter!" The monstrosity laughed so hard at his 'joke' that Victoria considered taking advantage of the apparent opening. Movement in the corner of her eye made her decide to shoot up instead.

The tentacles had almost caught up, and she had barely dodged that last strike. Pieces of concrete and steel that had survived the initial onslaught were ripped to shreds and tossed into the air high enough that she had to boost her speed slightly more for her ease of mind. Rubble weighing in the multiple of tons, tossed nearly fifty feet into the air like glitter.

All the while the monster mocked her from below as the tentacles receded and combined back into a single limb.

Monster Capes. She'd read up on them for a report on Power Expressions, people who'd triggered in some way, shape, or form that focused more on the power aspect than the human. There was a spectrum involved, with changes not only in biology but mentality and morality. Case 53's were the most well known, what with their sudden appearances and tattoos, but there had been some push for all Monster capes to fall under that umbrella term.

Personally, she had agreed. Monster capes was a horrendous title for people given something they never wanted.

Yet nothing better suited the enemy before her. Easily thrice her size and just as wide, he was like a walking, talking, pack of muscle and scar tissue in humanoid form. His personality seemed to match his appearance, if his torture of that poor man had been anything to go by.

 _Changer-Brute, easily an 8-9. He hit me with an attack that I couldn't see, but he hasn't used it again yet, so maybe a charge time? His regeneration is also pretty insane.  
_  
An opponent who could shape-shift into super-strong appendages, some invisible attack, and that she couldn't put down with her punches.

 _Fuck, I wish my team was here_.

Charging on ahead had been a decision made in panic and disbelief of the situation at hand. She hadn't even waited to be healed. Now she was regretting-

Victoria blinked. The monster had vanished.

"Gotcha."

 _No.  
_  
The attack was as impossible to dodge as it was powerful, hitting Glory Girl into the ground like a nail-gun, cratering on impact. The shock of the surprise attack muddled her mind as she belatedly realized she had stopped breathing.

She quickly took in a breath, inhaled dust and dirt, and then coughed it out. Nothing hurt, but that was hardly indicative of being okay in any shape or form. Quite frankly, she was amazed that she was alive at all.

Victoria couldn't feel her force-field. Had she been hit so hard that her force-field hadn't had time to fully disperse from the first strike? It had never happened to her before, so she had no idea if that was possible-

The area around her grew dark as her field popped back up, just in time for a monstrous kick to punt her through the air.

She was completely disoriented, unable to tell what was up or down. Her flight was useless without a way to regain her senses, and any push from it could send her closer to her death. Once again her field popped up, briefly, and she felt confident in extending out her flight.

It wasn't able to stabilize her immediately, but a quick turn allowed her to see what was ground and what was open air. A twirl and she shot up at full speed, feeling her gut sink as the spinning and dizziness fought to make her impossibly nauseous.

She had to get back, reassess, and plan before she even thought of counter-attacking. Flight was a means of disengaging and for recovery. The sky was her domain.

It was right next to her. The monster watched her in amusement, delighting in seeing her expression warp as she took notice, before entrapping her with a hand larger than her entire body.

There was no time to panic. No time to think.

Her forcefield popped and it tried to crush her to paste, but her aura _sang,_ it's maximum output echoing through the world and into her target.

She took satisfaction in it's gasp, even as it flung her hard enough to rip the very air from her lungs. There was no attempt on her part to regain her barring, both because the very speed at which she'd been flung rendered it null and void, and because her landing wasn't so lucky. She had no idea what, but her field popped as she crashed through _something._ The brick wall a second later?

Victoria saw that one coming.  
 _  
Pain.  
_  
She didn't even notice her field coming back, for the crash and subsequent crater after destroyed it once more. It hadn't appeared fast enough for the rough landing, and she could feel parts of her costume tear and her skin blossom in pain where they came in contact with pieces of concrete and steel.

Victoria couldn't see out her left eye. Every time she tried to open it, the world looked like a hazy, red, mosaic. Was she concussed? No way for her to tell, but if she had some internal injury there wasn't much she could do about it.

The monster was there, standing above her like a deadly monolith, looking down upon her. "Annoying insect. We've grown tired of this play."

 _Move Glory Girl. Move or you're going to die.  
_  
It hurt. Her body protested loudly as she tried to use, even her flight seeming to struggle to assist her.

He struck her, a weaker hit, but enough to bury her further into the earth. The pain was indescribable now, almost driving her into unconsciousness. She clung to the land of the awake, conscious enough to hear a strained cry escape her throat, and feel a ridiculous amount of shame at the fact.

It brought a smile to the monster's face, layers an layers of teeth as it's mouth opening far wider than natural.

"I haven't forgotten my promise insect," the monster practically purred. He raised one of his limbs and Victoria watched in near delirium as it morphed into a blade, "First we'll remove the skin from you're body. Slowly, since it's been some time since our last planet. Then we'll rip out your arms and legs like the bug you are."

"I'll leave the eyes though. I want your mind to see it and process it. _Understand_ it." Then I'll do the same to those in that burrow. And then the rest of your people. Until every last one of them is a limbless, skinless, corpse."

The monster brought itself low, face to face with her, separated by mere inches. When he spoke, she could smell spoiled meat. "This is the will of our _Lord."_

 _No.  
_  
Glory Girl spat in it's face. She had hoped some of the blood and spit would get in one of it's eyes, but she settled for it's upper lip. All the pain, the possible brain injury, for this?

"Worth-" She coughed and the pain was too much for her to finish.

 _So worth it._

The monster rose up and it's features... she couldn't describe it. Morphed, changed, shifted, nothing did it justice. Before, it had a humanoid - if mutated - appearance, but now it banished all pretenses of familiarity. It's eye-sockets simultaneously widened and narrowed, it's manic grin warring with a feral snarl, and it's very skin seemed to warp like ripples in a pond.

Five heads sprouted out, stretching and pulling this way and that. A few seconds passed before they brought themselves close together, sharing the top of it's torso. Ten sets of eyes narrowed in on her.

 ** _"Fuck it!"_** The blade rose and so did the shrillness of it's many voices, **_"We're going to slice your skull to fucking pieces! Very good!"_**

Victoria could only watch to tired, too hurt to even try her aura as a last chance. Dean flashed in her mind, smiling while holding her stuffed lion, and she hoped this wouldn't break him. If it had been him, she didn't think she could recover.

The monster swung with it's impossible speed and the massive blade bounced off the cerulean forcefield. All of it's eyes widened for a moment, glancing between the blade and forcefield, shocked.

Shock was soon replaced by anger, and more than a dozen swings bombarded the new defense. Although safe beneath the field, Victoria could feel the numbed shockwaves make their way into the ground around her, cracking it like glass. The vibrations hurt, but even they couldn't stop the smile forming on her face.

Eventually the attack stopped and all five heads glared at her beneath the field. Seeing her smile, they screeched, _**"Enough of your tricks you insect!"**_

"How about a treat then?"

It spun around on instinct, a grave mistake. Five balls of light flew towards the monster's heads, some having rebounded off of debris in ways that not even professional athletes could have managed. Two of the balls detonated, and Victoria had seen them used enough on Lung to know that they had the power of mortar shots more than mere grenades. For a second, she could see two of the heads damaged, burnt and chunks missing from their faces, before the other two went off. The forcefield dimmed it somewhat, but even then the flash of light was painful for even Victoria, and judging by it's screams the monster agreed.

 _Five pairs of eyes, five times the hurt I guess._

There was no fifth detonation, but Victoria had recognized the strategy anyways. The fifth ball, larger than the previous ones, dissipated, and Brandish emerged. Not a second spared before a battle-axe larger than a car tire was in-hand, and she swung. Victoria prided herself on her superstrength and versatile secondary abilities, but seeing her mom cut through a leg the size of a large tree-trunk was downright humbling.

A second follow up swing separated the monsters leg by the calf. More screaming from the monster and it began thrashing around in earnest, remaining upright only by catching itself with it's large hand. Multicolored lasers peppered the creature, leaving lines of burning flesh on it's body, helped by several more of the energy balls colliding with it. More explosions and flashes of light, bad enough that Victoria resigned herself to keeping her eyes closed.

Footsteps near her, and a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I thought you said you would only scout ahead for help."

"Hey mom." Victoria raised a shaky hand and squeezed her mother's own. Her vision was still splotchy, but she was able to meet her mother's eyes and smile weakly.

"Hold tight, Eric's going to bring us in, and I don't want to jostle you if you have a neck injury."

She nodded, felt nauseau from the action, and settled for squeezing her mom's hand again. The forcefield vanished for the briefest of seconds before reforming beneath and around her and Brandish. In a moment, the makeshift stretcher flew up and away, toward where her team had come from.

She watched as the monster tried to regain it's footing. Literally in this case, as it's removed limb broke down and flew towards the injury, gaining at least 80% of it back in a few seconds. As horrific as it was, Victoria noticed that it seemed to to have issues with the burnt material as it finished collecting the flesh.

She didn't know if her family had noticed, but they seemed to know that they couldn't allow it to fully recover. Red and purple forcefields surrounded the monster at it's knees, nearly ten feet long and just as tall, hampering it's attempts at movement. Uncle Neil launched an I-beam at the monster, the toss enhanced not just by his strength but also his magnetism. It impacted at the cluster of heads, and the force of coupled with the tripping hazards finally caused it to tumble onto it's back.

Her aunt unleashed a laser at full-power, maybe the size of a motorcycle, and it actually succeeded in pushing it down slightly into the earth. More effective, however, were the red lasers that cut and burned it's flesh. Those, combined with her father's flashbangs, seemed to cause the most distress in the creature.

They flew on, nearly a couple hundred feet into the backlines before they stopped by Eric. Shielder, and huddled next to him behind the wall of concrete was Amy. The forcefield lowered and then dissipated.

The look of shock on her sisters face was enough to really make her consider how messed up she must have appeared.

Victoria smiled weakly, "That bad huh?"

" _Very,_ " her mother answered for her. She looked at Amy, "Do the best that you can. If it's... too serious, have her, you, and Eric head back to the house. According to Director Piggot, Dragon's ETA is two minutes out, and a military response is likely to follow. I'm going to back up our family."

More explosions in the background. Even louder were the aliens yells of fury.

She turned to Victoria, "If you're good to go after your check-up, stay near your sister. We need her for this fight and for any more civilians. Amy has the emergency line for the Protectorate on her phone. Call it _immediately_ if things start to go south."

 _I'm being benched._ Victoria hated it, hated the very idea that she had to stay back while her family fought for their and other's lives. She wanted to help.

Still, she understood. She'd leaped before she looked and this is what it had gotten her.

Victoria looked her mom in the eye and nodded. A moment before she left, Victoria squeezed her hand.

"Energy," she said. Her jaw ached as she spoke, "Energy hurts it. He can fly. F-Fast."

Carol Dallon's eyes softened and she leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Stay."

Brandish rose and sprinted back into battle. Eric stood out slightly past the wall and Victoria imagined his forcefield would only add to the alien's mounting frustrations.

She felt a hand hold her own. Amy. Already she could feel her body mending and relief pouring throughout her body.

It didn't do much for the gut punch of seeing her sister holding back her tears.

"Sorry Ames."

Amy shook her head and wiped her eyes, "Don't you _ever_ run off like that again. I thought you were going to die."

"Sorry," she repeated. She was and wasn't. Sorry to scare her sister like that, but not sorry to save someone's life.

Victoria's eyes widened, "Amy, the people in the shelter-"

"Already handled." Amy's frown deepened, "Well, as best we could. A lot of people died in there and everyone else was just... well it's a fucked up thing to see. I healed that guy by the entrance. He pointed us in your general direction. Not that it was hard to see the dust clouds or the ground shaking."

Victoria took a deep breath, "I'm glad I saved someone then. Speaking of, how you holding up Eric?"

Her cousin glanced her way, and she could see a bead of sweat drip down his brow. His costume was the most pristine of everyone's but that was usually the case with his powers. Had they all not been strategizing in the family room, he might have been the only person to survive.

"Amy fixed me up, as much she could with my fatigue anyways." He turned back to the fight, eye's laser focused, "Trying to keep this fucker from winding up, pinning his arms down, which is really fucking hard when he tries to turn into goo. I seriously don't know how you got off so easy Vic, cause the feedback I got from his hits almost _hurts._ "

"Not off easy," Amy cut off Victoria's reply, "Broken wrist, sprained wrist and ankles, fractured shoulder blades, minor fracture in her jaw, and a _skull_ fracture."

"Jesus Christ."

Victoria swallowed, dreading the answer, "Anything wrong with my brain?"

"Besides your hard-headedness, arrogance, thick skull-"

" _Yes,_ Amy. Besides those."

Amy sighed and hugged Victoria, "No, you big jerk. You got really fucking lucky."

Victoria squeezed her back. "Sorry," she repeated for the third time.

It wasn't a quiet moment, not with the sounds of battle only a few hundred feet away, but it was a reprieve from the insanity of the past half hour. Until the world lit up with purple lights brighter than any of the New Wave lasers.

A very human scream sounded off in the distance, only for an inhuman cry of joy to overtake it.

 ** _"Very good! Cower you vermin, as the purification of your world once more assails your pathetic world!"_**


End file.
